Day 37

I woke up today really tired again for some reason. I think that I woke up in the middle of a dream, but I don't remember what that dream was. I really didn't want to wake up, so I stayed in bed until 7:08AM. I forced myself out of bed and washed up. I ate breakfast with my mother and talked about my plans for the day. I went to school in a good mood, listening to IU and 홍단아. On the subway, I zoned out and studied my word sets from Quizlet. I was so into my studying that I actually ended up missing my stop and ended up in 서울역. So, I had to pretend that I knew what I was doing and made a beeline straight through the crowd to the other train cart that was right across my train cart.

With a purpose on my face, I went back one stop and walked up to the college. On the way there, I played this game of "walk in the shadows" because it was really hot and I was not living for that. I got to school about three minutes late at 7:53AM, but a lot of people were not in the classroom, so I was fine. I sat by the air conditioner and used my mini fan to blow the cool air my way. If I had had time, I would have bought a cheap peach tea from this restaurant right next to the Aunt Sallies along with a water to keep the tea from being way too sweet, but I had no time. Class started and Emma and Sofia (ok i spelt your name correctly this time) sang the Phineas and Ferb theme song, but with lyrics to reflect the NSLI-Y8 experience. We plan on singing the song as a class for the talent show. Also, there was a disagreement on the proper way to pronounce 'NSLI-Y.' Some people say 'nissly' while others say 'nessly.' I however, will not say the way that I pronounce it bc im not looking to get shanked lol.

During the break, I got a large $5 bottle worth of grapefruit juice and I got a 1.5$ banana sandwich thing. I don't like grapefruit, but it's healthy, so I decided to buy it. The banana sandwich had banana flavored cream filling and tasted like the fake flavor of bananas, so I didn't really like it. I expected an actual banana to be in between the bread slices, so I was sorely disappointed.

The second part of class went by really slowly for me, but I noticed my progress in being able to understand just about everything that I read and heard. Also, I was able to read Korean more quickly than I had been able to prior. Sometime last week, something just clicked in me and Korean became natural. I didn't really struggle to speak in Korean and more and I just understood things a lot better than I had used to. I do remember waking up one day feeling chill and thinking 'hmm, Korean feel natural to me now" and that from that day on, I clicked with Korean.

After class, me, Emma, and Sofia went to Itaewon to meet a Korean student that we had all met through the Hello Talk app. We met at exit two and went to a pancake restaurant to eat lunch. I got chocolate chip pancakes, Sophfia got potato pancakes (basically hash browns lmao) and Emma and 김혜정 got blueberry pancakes. Since there are army bases in Itaewon, it is the 'foreigner center' and there were so many foreigners. The pancake restaurant was branding 'Authentic American Taste' and played some American pop oldies. We had a conversation in Korean, but Emma and Sofia were leaving me to do most of the talking! I came up with random, general questions to avoid it being awkward, but we had only just met, so it was awkward just as is.

After eating, we went to get ice cream and this guy put on a show about it, but he didn't really put on a show for me bc i'm not a cute lady lol. The business was a Turkish ice cream business where Turkish people sell ice cream and speak Korean very well. Back in Anguk, we saw the same Turkish ice cream business and actually watched the guy charm his audience with his ice cream making skill. He scoops ice cream from a long metal rod and fools his audience whenever they go to grab the ice cream. It was three dollars and not worth the price lmao.

We then tried to go into the Line store nearby, but we had the ice cream, so we couldn't go in until we finished the bad quality ice cream. After finishing the ice cream, we went inside the overpriced store and took a picture with one of the mascots. We then headed to visit a military base. We tried to go in, but someone (no shade or anything) didn't bring their ID, so we couldn't go :/ (jk sofia we wouldn't have been able to go in anyway lol).

Afterwards, we went in to a Starbucks to refresh ourselves, but there was no room and it was too expensive, so we ended up going next door to the McDonalds and got some drinks. I tried to get a caramel iced coffee because I didn't really want to drink soda, but they only had iced macchiatos. We talked about school life and the American people in Korea and about visiting places and languages and 혜정 quizzed us on our Korean vocabulary. It was pretty fun. The yellowish-green color of the tiled wall foreshadowed the sickness to be felt by Sphofia as she escaped to the restroom.

After a while, we had to part. First, we parted with 혜정 and then we parted with Sofia. Me and Emma went around Seoul express terminal and tried to look around the underground shopping center for a sign shop, but after walking around the whole shopping center about 3 times, we saw that the store was closed for some reason. We then went to Gongcha and talked about our Korean experiences and our thoughts about Korea and NSLI-Y. After a bit, we parted and I got home to a big dinner prepared by my mother.

As per usual, I took a shower and, because I had McDonalds, I used the toilet, and then I ate dinner. This times, my mom had these strange lentil looking brown vegetables. They tasted like seaweed and mushrooms, but better. Also, I ate some pork, egg, sausage, kimchi, zucchini, and this 갈비 soup that tasted like hamburgers. I had a great conversation with my mother and talked about how I grew in the Korean language and how I will miss Korean food and the language when I come back home.

Reflecting back on my experiences and how I've grown throughout the program, I feel happy and satisfied. However, there is still so much time (well, so little) left and so there is so much time to have even more fun, grow even more, and make even more memories. I feel comfortable speaking in the Korean language now and I find myself living in the moment while I walk to school, listening to cheerful music while I pass by Korean faces. I find myself living in the moment while transferring lines in Sadang station, watching how people run and how their hair bounces as they speed through the station to get to the other train, while I hear the fake 애교 voice of the lady selling bread. I find myself living in the moment while I am in Korean class, forming sentences as best as I can while being surrounded by people who love the language as much and even more than I do, people have seen me grow from nothing and who I've gotten to know throughout the program. I find myself while I am standing on an escalator or in the subway train, at first struggling to not fall over while the train moves, and then getting used to the feeling of the train. Also, I find myself enjoying the moments as I walk back home and I take my earbud out to hear the forest, the cicadas screaming the sound of the vegetation rustling slightly, with me breathing in deeply to smell the musk of nature and see the beauty of it as well.

Anyway, I'm going to end this here. I have a slight headache and my body is a bit sore, but I really am having a good time and I'm so thankful to be on this amazing journey. I really am fortunate to have this opportunity and I honestly love Korea with all of it's differences. I hope to come back some day, but for now, I am enjoying every second of being here. All the ups and downs, the horrible and embarassing experiences that turn into funny and interesting stories and the moments that make me smile when I think about them- I am enjoying every drop and still am enjoying everything.

Goodnight everyone!



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